The Wandering Immortal's Lake
by ShadowsofDestruction13
Summary: Coming across a lake in Minnesota, Percy decides to take a break. Of course he had to pick the one cursed lake out of a thousand.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: Percy Jackson and the Olympians Belongs to Rick Riordan A.N. Here it is, folks! Presenting the all-new hot-off-the-presses Prologue!

Percy and Annabeth had been traveling in the wilderness for what seemed like an eternity. A hellhound had attacked their bus three days ago and now they were stranded in the middle of Minnesota with dwindling supplies.

"Annabeth, don't you have ANY idea where we are?" Percy whined for what seemed like the millionth time that day.

"If I knew where we were, Seaweed Brain, I would've gotten us out of here already!" Annabeth's had spoken calmly at first, but she ended up screaming at the top of her lungs and scaring all of the wildlife away.

"Geez, Annabeth, you didn't have to yell. It was just a question." Annabeth only sighed in response.

After a few more hours of traveling, the still-lost heroes came across a lake.

"Alright, a lake! We can finally bathe! I don't know about you, but I am tired of being covered in swamp muck," Percy said, sounding totally unlike what one would expect of the 'manly hero of Olympus'. "Do you wanna go first, Annabeth?"

"I'm fine, Percy. You can go first. I'll try to figure out where we are."

"Suit yourself. I'm gonna go get all this dirt and grime off me. I'll see ya later."

Annabeth found a rock to sit on and tried to determine where they were. She heard a faint splash and then the whoops of joy coming from Percy. Since she was alone, she decided to entertain her thoughts. Lately, all of her thoughts involved Percy. How he defeated Kronos, how he could be such an idiot sometimes, how handsome he was…

'Whoa, Annabeth, what are you thinking? I need focus on saving us,' she thought, trying to get back on track. A few seconds passed by, and she found herself thinking of Percy again. 'You know, I could use my cap to spy– '

"AAAUUUUGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!"

'Percy!'

Annabeth ran to the lake. When she got there, what she found was not what she expected. She had assumed that a monster had attacked Percy. However, what she found was a strange girl in the lake with Percy nowhere in sight. 'She must've surprised him and he ran off.' Annabeth sighed as she thought of how only moments earlier, she had been praising Percy (in her head, mind you) for how courageous he was. 'Really Percy. All that racket for one girl?'

"Who are you?" Annabeth asked cautiously, hand still clutching the dagger in her pocket. The girl jumped in surprise, as she had not noticed Annabeth approach the edge of the water. Slowly, shyly, she turned around to face Annabeth. The girl's voice was so soft that, had she not been listening intently, Annabeth would've missed the girl's response.

"Annabeth, it's me. It's Percy."

Annabeth fainted.

"Ugh, I need to stop going to sleep on an empty stomach. I'm starting to get _really_ strange dreams," Annabeth groaned as she sat up. Blinking, she noticed that she was inside a tent that she didn't remember setting up. 'That's odd,' she thought to herself. 'I don't even remember deciding to stop.' Deciding to chalk it up to pure exhaustion and leave it at that, she went to go wake Percy up.

"Yo, Seaweed Brain! Up and at 'em! I got a feeling we'll make it to civilization today," she yelled into his tent enthusiastically. Annabeth waited several moments for Percy to respond. Growing impatient of waiting for a response that might never come, she unzipped his tent and dragged his sleeping bag out, with him still inside of it. This got a reaction, as complaints started emerging from the bag. After much grumbling, a head emerged reluctantly from the sleeping bag.

"EEEEEEEKKKKKK!"

"Annabeth?" Percy asked sleepily. "Did you just 'eek'?"

"S-shut up! L-look at yourself," Annabeth said shakily.

"Hm?" Realization dawned upon his face as he remembered the previous day's events. "Oh, yeah, that. I was really of hoping that _you_ could help explain that, or better yet, get rid of it. Because I _really_ don't want this to be permanent."

"Is that really you, Percy?"

"The one and only" he replied with a small smile plastered upon his face.

Now that she was closer, Annabeth could see the similarities between the person sitting in front of her and the Percy she remembered. They both had the same dark black hair and sea-green eyes. She was willing to bet that, if she looked for them, she could find the same scars. And it wasn't just the physical things. The mannerisms that Percy had were all present in the girl sitting before her. However, there were differences to be noted, some subtler than others. For one thing, this girl was a head shorter than Percy, as well as being slightly thinner. The differences between Percy's normal chest and hip size were glaringly obvious. Also, this girl had wider eyes and slightly longer eyelashes, a smaller nose, and fuller lips. Deciding to believe the girl, she concluded that this really was Percy.

Annabeth sighed. "Percy, how do you manage to get into these situations?"

"These things just seem to happen to me. Do you have any idea how this happened yet?"

" No. Do you remember anything… weird happening? Did you see anyone else there?"

"Ummm, I don't think so. I was just taking a bath in that lake and suddenly this happened. Wait, do you think one of the gods did this?"

"It is highly likely. More then a few of them are displeased with you. Besides, if it was the lake, then it probably would have happened as soon as you got wet."

"Oh. Well then, I think it _was_ the lake."

"How? I heard you splashing around for at least five minutes before you screamed."

"Son of Poseidon, remember? I don't have to get wet until I want to."

"Well, I suppose that changes things. But I don't remember hearing about any cursed lakes in the United States."

"Well, Minnesota _is _the Land of a Thousand Lakes. A couple of them are bound to be overlooked."

Annabeth sighed again. "Whatever. I'll just ask my mother when we get back to New York. In the mean time, it looks like I'm stuck teaching you a few things about girls."

Percy was confused. "What would you need to teach me that I don't already know?"

Annabeth sighed for the third time in fifteen minutes. Walking up to Percy, she whispered something in 'his' ear.

The color drained from Percy's face.

"You're kidding, right?" Percy asked weakly. Annabeth shook her head. Percy started to put on quite a melodramatic performance.

"Oh cruel Fates! Why must you insist on torturing me? This is cruel and unusual punishment! No man should have to go through this." He collapsed into a huge pile of sobs.

"Stop acting stupid, Seaweed Brain. Its not _that_ bad," Percy's head whipped around to glare at her. "Okay so maybe it is. But sobbing about it isn't going to help you. Besides, you'll have me here to help you every step of the way."

Percy sniffled. "You mean it?" 'he' asked timidly.

"Of course I do. Now the sooner we find this half-blood for Chiron, the sooner we can get back home and get you help."

"Okay. But I'll need to borrow some of your clothes. I don't know if I was a lard-butt or what, but my clothes don't fit anymore."

Annabeth giggled at that. "You weren't fat, Percy. Girls are just naturally smaller than boys. Sure you can borrow some clothes." She helped Percy up and they went into Annabeth's tent to pick out some clothes for Percy before cleaning up the camp.

**A.N. How's **_**that**_** for edited? Twice the word count of before (even though its still pretty short)! If any of you remember the first edition, compare it to this one and let me know what you think.**

**P.S. If you read a lot of PjatO fanfiction, please check out the Help Wanted section of my profile.**


	2. Return to Camp

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**Percy Jackson and the Olympians. **_**Nor will I ever if the series is to survive**

**Author's Note: This is a slight AU-ish story where instead of what happened in TLO Percy defeats Kronos by himself and Percy & Annabeth don't get together. Just FYI. Another important thing to note: Nico is only a year younger than Percy in this story.**

"Run, Alex! We'll hold them off!" Annabeth shouted at the new half-blood.

"But they'll kill you!"

"They won't kill us! We've beaten them before and we'll beat them again. Now get your butt past that pine tree before I dropkick you over there!" Annabeth was screaming at the boy who was a year younger than she was.

His face was that of a stubborn rhino as he shouted back at Annabeth. "I won't do it! I'm staying here!"

I can safely say from past experience that Annabeth was not used to being disobeyed. Even campers that were several years older than she was minded her. Therefore, it came as no surprise to me that Annabeth looked ready to tear Alex to pieces _herself _for his 'insubordination.' So it was in the hope of preventing any bodily harm to Alex that I interrupted Annabeth's angry, and likely violent, retort. "Alex. Please."

Slowly, his expression softened. "All right," he said reluctantly. "But you have to _promise_ me that you guys will make it back."

"I do. Now go!"

With that said, Alex took off toward Thalia's pine. Annabeth raised an eyebrow at me, like, _How come all of a sudden Alex listens to you?_ I stuck my tongue out at her.

It was after making sure that Alex was far enough away that we turned and charged the horde of Lastrygonians that had followed us to camp.

FLASHBACK AWESOMNESS!

2 days after the 'incident'…

We got off the bus we'd been riding and started down the street. I attempted to strike up a friendly conversation in order to eliminate the awkward silence that saturated the air. I say awkward because over the past couple of days, I had been learning and experiencing things about the female body that I have no desire to reiterate here. "We've _finally_ made it to Akeley. Now let's find directions to the high school to get this kid and get outta' dodge." Annabeth provided no response and looked to be deep in thought.

"Annabeth? Helloooooooooo?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry. I was just thinking that you need a name."

"I already have a name. It's Percy, remember?"

"Well duh, Seaweed Brain, but 'Percy' is hardly an appropriate name for a girl."

"But I'm _not_ a girl."

"But you _look_ like one to everyone else–"

"Thanks for reminding me."

"–So you need a girl's name."

"Well did you have any particular name in mind? Or are we just going to go with 'Percy-ella'?"

"Ha-ha," Annabeth said dryly. "As a matter of fact, I _do_ have a name in mind. I was thinking maybe 'Andromeda'."

"Care to explain why you chose Andromeda of all names? 'Cuz that hardly seems like it would be on the list of most popular baby names."

"It's pretty obvious, Percy. Don't you remember the tale of Perseus?" I shook my head sheepishly. She sighed. "Hopeless. Well, the long and short of it is Perseus rescued the maiden Andromeda in ancient Greece. Since your actual name _is_ Perseus, I thought this would be a clever substitute."

"Oh goodie. I went from being named after a brave warrior to being named after some maiden. This just gets better and better."

"Oh, stop complaining and help me look for directions,_ Andromeda_." I decided that the smart, non-seaweed-brain thing to do would be to shut up. After all, Annabeth _was_ helping me through this whole ordeal.

After a few more minutes of searching, we found a pedestrian who was kind enough to give us directions. The school was a few blocks from where we were. After a few _more_ minutes, we were standing outside the school.

"So how do we go about doing this, Wise Girl? We can't exactly barge in and snatch the kid."

"Don't you think I _know_ that already? I'm trying to think of a plan."

"Why don't we just wait until school is dismissed? It's not that long of a wait."

Annabeth looked exasperated. "Because, Seaweed Brain, unless you have the ability to distinguish one kid from hundreds of others, we would never be able to find him."

"Oh. Well while we're waiting, why don't you remind me of what we know about him? 'Cuz that might make it easier to find him."

"Well, his name is Alex Chiverton, and he's Nico's age. He's about as tall as you were before your… change. He has brown hair and blue eyes. He comes with the basic half-blood package. That's about all we know about him."

"Are you kidding me?!? We don't know anything other than the basics! It'll be impossible to find him!"

"Well, we could tell the people at the front office that we… need him for something…" Annabeth finished lamely.

"That has to be the _worst_ plan that I have ever heard from a child of Athena."

"Well, I don't see _you_ coming up with any brilliant plans," Annabeth said defensively.

"We could just…" I was cut off by the school's intercom.

"Would Alex Chiverton please come to the front office? Alex Chiverton to the front office."

"…Ambush him on his way to the office." I finished my statement with a grin.

"How is it you always manage to come out ahead through a series of dumb luck and coincidence?"

"Excuse me? Who exactly is it that's cursed to look like the opposite of their natural gender right now?"

"Right, right. Sorry. Let's just go meet the kid."

END OF THE FLASHBACK AWSOMENESS!

It turned out that Alex was being called to the office to be eliminated. The principal was actually an _empousa_. I hadn't known that _empousa_ could get as old as this one had been. She had shocked the kid, but it made it easier for us to explain. From there, it took us another week and two more buses, both of which ended up exploding (man, I have the worst luck on buses), to get to New York. After another day we were within range of Camp Half-Blood, but that's when some Lastrygonians attacked us. That brings us up to now.

Annabeth and I were heading to the Big House after defeating the Lastrygonians. Annabeth had a nasty cut and I was sporting several bruises on my ribs. We needed to get some ambrosia when we made it to the Big House. When we got there, we saw a satyr leading Alex to see the introductory movie. I didn't see why he needed to go, since Annabeth and I had been explaining things to him for the past week, but I guess we might've skipped a couple of details. Alex came over to us. "Annabeth, Andromeda–" I winced at the name, but tried to cover it up "–are you two okay?"

"We're fine. We go through this kind of thing on nearly a weekly basis." Annabeth replied using a weak attempt at humor. Alex looked doubtful, but dropped the topic. He left with the satyr. At that point, Chiron walked up.

"Welcome back Annabeth, and, um… who is your friend here? Where is Percy, Annabeth?"

I sighed, and let Annabeth answer for me. "Chiron, there was an, um, an accident and well, this _is_ Percy, actually."

"And you expect me to believe that, Annabeth? Really, one would hope that a daughter of the goddess of wisdom would be able to tell the, ah, _differences_ between this young woman and Percy. Now I suggest you tell me what happened to Percy."

I felt close to tears. I had been worried about how we would explain this to everyone when we got back, but this was too much. "Chiron, it really is me," I said, my voice laced with desperation. "I was bathing in some lake in Minnesota and this happened. We were hoping that you or one of the gods could explain."

"Give me a reason to believe you."

After considering this for several moments, I spoke up. "When I was in sixth grade you were my Latin teacher. I had a pre-algebra teacher named Ms. Dodds who turned out to be one of Hades' Furies. You gave me the sword Riptide in Metropolitan Museum of Art when she attacked me. Do you believe me now?"

"No. It is possible for anyone to have found that information."

I sighed again, but immediately brightened. I had just thought of something that only he and I knew, as I had unwittingly witnessed it occurring. Walking up to him, I began to whisper in his ear.

Chiron immediately cleared his throat loudly. "Yes, well, I suppose it really is you Percy." I grinned at my success. " But what on Earth happened to you?"

"I already told you, some weird lake in Minnesota did this. I have no idea why."

"It is possible that… No that simply cannot be," Chiron started trotting off a little bit and was talking more to himself rather than Annabeth and myself. "I will have to consult with the gods on this matter."

Annabeth whispered to me. "What could you have possibly said to convince him so quickly?"

I smiled at her. "Believe me, you don't want to know. And even if you did, I couldn't tell you, because it's a secret."

Annabeth looked slightly frustrated, but left it at that and started addressing Chiron again. "Anyway, Percy is going by the name of 'Andromeda' until this matter is over. I was thinking that maybe you should introduce 'her' as a new camper. He can tell our closer friends about what actually happened."

"That is a sound plan, Annabeth, but I believe that we should meet with the gods before deciding anything. Have you informed your mother about this change, Percy?"

I blushed as I remembered the humiliating event. "Um, yes. She took it better than I expected, saying something about how she 'always wanted a daughter'. Annabeth laughed for a good ten minutes. It was mortifying."

Chiron chuckled. "I can only imagine. Now, I suggest we make a trip to Mt. Olympus posthaste."

I got several different reactions from the gods. Zeus, Hephaestus, and Demeter looked bored, like they didn't care about my personal problems (which the probably didn't), while Apollo and Hermes actually had enough common decency to look sympathetic.

It didn't surprise me that Dionysus and Hera looked pleased, as they had both openly admitted their dislike of me. Nor did it surprise me that Ares was roaring with laughter. However, I _did_ wonder why Athena was looking so pleased, as I couldn't recall having done anything to offend her.

Artemis and Aphrodite looked like they were both planning something. Now, I have no idea what Artemis could be scheming, but the look on Aphrodite's face sent shivers down my spine. When she had that look on her face, you knew you were in for an experience far worse then any monster fight.

My father took it the same way Annabeth had initially. By passing out.

Several minutes later, when the clamor died down and my father had been successfully revived, the question was asked on whether anyone knew anything about what might have happened. Athena immediately spoke up. "This is pure speculation, but I believe that these two may have unwittingly found the lost spring of Hermaphroditus."

**A.N: There you go, edit number two. **

**Oh, and one of the passages in here is almost a direct quote from one of the books. If you can guess which, then kudos to you. I might even give a sneak peek of chapter 5 to anyone who guesses both the book and passage. Again, please check out the help wanted section of my profile.**


	3. Chiron's Announcement

**a.n: Happy New Year! Here's the next chapter to celebrate. I am **_**soooo**_** sorry that it took so long. I wish that there was some important reason it took so long, but… there isn't. So my New Years resolution is to write more and update more often. Without further ado, enjoy.**

My father was the first to recover. "The… the lost spring of Hermaphroditus?!? But that would mean…" he didn't finish, but he didn't need to. Everyone in the throne room knew what it meant.

Annabeth questioned her mother. "Isn't… isn't there anything that can be done?"

"I'm afraid not. Curses, such as the one on the lake young Perseus fell into, are very serious things. They can only be lifted by the one who placed them or direct descendents of the one who placed them."

I had a sudden burst of hope. "Then all we have to do is call Hermaphroditus in here and ask him to cure me, right?"

"Percy," my father began. "It's not that simple. After what happened to him, Hermaphroditus felt betrayed. Hermaphroditus vowed never to return to Olympus and chose to instead wander the Earth forever. No one has seen him since."

That little burst of hope from earlier? Yeah, it burst into flames. "So I'm stuck like this?"

"For the time being, yes. But do not think for an instant that we will not be attempting to find a way to reverse this."

Later at camp…

Annabeth and I were sitting on the beach talking when Chiron trotted up. "Perc-, er, Andromeda, I know this may not be the best time, but dinner is approaching and I was wondering if you would want to get the 'introduction' done tonight."

"Might as well. There's no point in delaying it."

Annabeth piped up. "I've actually been thinking about that. Maybe it would be better if Chiron just called a meeting of the cabin heads and told them there."

"What are you talking about? You were the one to come up with this plan in the first place!"

"I know, Seaweed Brain, but that was before we met Alex and told him that _both_ of us had been going to camp for years now. It would look kind of odd to him to introduce you as a new camper to everyone, wouldn't it?"

Did she _have_ to think of everything? "Fine, fine. We'll introduce me to the cabin heads. I can't _wait_ to hear what Clarisse has to say about this."

"Very well. I'll go and call the meeting. You two might as well start heading to the Big House."

Chiron trotted away leaving us alone once more.

* * * * *

"… And that's basically what happened." The rec room was silent. The air was filled with curiosity and disbelief. Connor Stoll was the first to voice his disbelief. "How do we know that you're actually Percy? Prove it."

I sighed. "What do you want besides the words of both Annabeth and myself?"

"What was the one thing Percy had with him when he came to stay in Cabin eleven?"

I took a second to think. "It was the Minotaur's horn. I'd broken it off when I was fighting him."

Travis and Connor started whispering among themselves. Then Travis spoke up. "We're convinced. But it still seems pretty unreal."

Clarisse objected. "You two may be convinced, but I'm not. What happened when Jackson and I first met?"

I answered without hesitation. "You and a couple of your siblings mocked me and tried to dunk me in the toilet. I made the pipes burst and soaked you, washing you out of the bathroom."

Several of the counselors laughed at the memory. Clarisse's face flushed with color and she sat back down. "Any other questions? Or are you all satisfied?"

There was silence. And then… the room burst into laughter. It was my turn to have my face color. With the recognition that it was indeed me, Percy, came the realization that Percy Jackson, hero of Olympus, had been turned into a girl. Even Clarisse, who had been humbled just moments before, had started to roar with laughter like her father had. Figuring that there was nothing I could do to help the situation, I let them continue to laugh. And laugh. And laugh. Finally, the laughter died down. I let Annabeth speak because I was afraid if I spoke, the laughter would start up again. "The gods are looking for a way to cure Percy's, ah, problem. You can inform your cabin mates, but it would probably be better if you didn't unless they ask. We're trying to prevent word from spreading."

Katie Gardener spoke up. "If you're trying to keep it a secret, then why tell any of us? It probably would've worked better if you just introduced 'her' as a new camper."

"We thought of that, but it would have made Alex distrustful of the entire camp"

The others were confused "Who's Alex?"

I decided to speak up. "He's the new camper we recruited. We've become friends with him and we'd rather it stay that way."

"That's right. Also, we've started referring to Percy as 'Andromeda', so try to remember that."

Chiron cleared his throat. "Alright then, if that is all, I believe it is time for dinner."

* * * * *

Dinner was… interesting to say the least. Campers kept pointing to my table and whispering among themselves. I tried to ignore it but it didn't make any less awkward. Mr. D introduced Alex and purposely called him Alec Shiverman. He waved and I waved back, which set off a fresh wave of hushed discussion. I prayed to whatever god would listen that he didn't notice. Chiron then stood up. "Ahem. I am pleased to announce that this year we will be holding the first annual Camp Half-Blood Olympics."

_That_ was unexpected. After that, I don't think I saw a single glance my way. Everyone was too excited about the news. Heck, _I_ was excited about the news. "The teams will be made up of each cabin. However, cabins that have five or less are allowed to pair up with other cabins. Also, unclaimed campers from the Hermes cabin are allowed to choose which team they are on."

There was a chorus of groans from the Hermes table. They must've been planning on having the advantage of numbers. "The events will be archery, canoeing, volleyball, wrestling, pole vault, the 100 meter dash, sword fighting, chariot racing, javelin throw, discus, hammer throw, 4x100 relay, and 400 meter hurdles. The events will start one month from now. Until then, I suggest you all practice if you want to win. That is all. Return to your meals."

Nobody could eat after that. Everybody was too busy planning how they would train. I was busy thinking which cabin I would team up with. Athena was my first choice, in order to team up with Annabeth. But I'm not sure how well her siblings would take to teaming with Poseidon. Ares was another no-go, as Clarisse would probably kill me if I even suggested it. Hermes or Apollo might be an option. I sighed. This was going to be difficult…

**So what do you think? I have plans to bring in Nico or the Huntresses in the next chapter. Send me a note if you have a preference. 'Till next time (which **_**hopefully **_**won't**__**be too long). Bye!**


	4. The Huntresses

**A.N. Short, pretty much just a filler chapter with some attempted humor. Only **_**one**_** person voted, so Karmabear2050 wins.**

**Disclaimer: Percy Jackson belongs to Rick Riordan and **_**Man, I Feel Like a Woman**_** belongs to Shania Twain**

The next morning, I woke up to someone playing music outside my cabin. At first I was too groggy to make out the lyrics.

"_I'm going out tonight – I'm feeling alright…_

_Gonna let it all hang out,_

_Wanna make some noise – really raise my voice…_

_Yeah, I wanna scream and shout!"_

By now I had gotten up and started to get dressed. I was still uncomfortable with the 'appendages' I had received since the transformation, so I had my eyes shut the entire time. I was trying to figure out what song this was and why anyone would play it outside my cabin this early in the morning.

"_No inhibitions – make no conditions,_

_Get a little outta line…_

_I ain't gonna act politically correct,_

_I only wanna have a good time!"_

Why did this song sound so familiar? I must've heard it on the radio a million times. But what was it?

"_The best thing about being a woman_

_Is the prerogative to have a little fun and..."_

And then it sunk in. It was that one song, _Man, I feel like a woman_. I raced to the door to see who was playing it. If my hunch was correct…

"_Oh, oh, oh, go totally crazy – forget I'm a lady_

_Men's shirts – short skirts_

_Oh, oh, oh, really go wild – yeah, doin' it in style_

_Oh, oh, oh, get in the action – feel the attraction_

_Color my hair – do what I dare_

_Oh, oh, oh, I wanna be free – yeah, to feel the way I feel_

_Man! I feel like a woman!"_

I threw open the cabin door and found myself looking at the Stoll twins laughing their butts off. " You guys suck! I freaking hate you two!"

Travis was the first to respond, after stifling his laughter. "M-morning 'Andromeda'. We thought you might like to wake up to some music on your first day back. What do you think?"

"What do I think? What do I think? I _think_ I'm gonna kill you!" I replied angrily. I mean seriously, who did they think they were?

"Ooh, I think we made _her_ angry, Travis. We better watch ourselves."

" Yeah, we wouldn't want _her_ to beat us up. Besides, she might break a nail."

Oh, I was _soooo_ gonna kill them! "Shut up! Why don't you both just go…" It was then that I noticed that they had stop laughing and mocking me. They were just standing and staring at me, with their faces all red. It was starting to creep me out. "What are you two looking at?"

"Uh, well, y-y-your, um…"

"Well, what is it? Spit it out already!"

"Y-your shirt…"

I had no idea what they were talking about. I took a look at my shirt… and realized that I had just pulled a Janet Jackson and flashed the two of them (and anyone else who had happened to be in the immediate area). Mortified, I let out a shriek. "Why are you two still looking?!? Turn around! Or better yet, just leave!"

They didn't have to be told twice. They grabbed their boombox and ran off like a horde of hellhounds was after them. Meanwhile, I threw myself back inside my cabin and decided to bury myself in my bed, hoping beyond hope that I was still asleep and this was just a dream.

A little while later I heard knocking. "Who is it?" I asked dully.

"It's Annabeth. Alex is here too. Can we come in?"

"The door's unlocked."

The door creaked open, and I felt a weight at the foot of my bed. "What's up? We haven't seen you all day. "

"What are you talking about? It's still morning." _Isn't it?_

Alex gave a slight chuckle. "No, actually. It's almost two in the afternoon. You've been shut up in here all day."

Styx, Styx, _Styx_."No way! It can't have been more than half an hour since…" I cut my self off, not wanting to replay the events of the morning.

"Since _what_, exactly?" Annabeth inquired.  
"Oh, um, nothing. I must have just fallen back asleep. Look it's nothing. What have you guys been up to?"

Annabeth wasn't convinced. Thankfully, Alex came to my rescue. "Dude, this camp is awesome! It's even better than you guys described! Granted, I almost died on the climbing wall, but still…"

"It's great that you like the Camp, Alex. Have you decided who you'll team up with for the Olympics?"

"Well, I was hoping to team up with you. If that's alright, of course!"

I grinned. "That's a great idea, Alex! But now, who are _we_ going to team up with? 'Cause right now, I'm the only inhabitant of this cabin…"

Alex was confused. "Why can't we just team up with Annabeth? That'd work out fine, I thought."

"Well, _you_ probably could team up with the Athena cabin, but the Athena cabin, other than Annabeth, aren't that fond of me for being a s-_daughter _of Poseidon. The whole Athena-Poseidon rivalry thing."

"Oh. Well that sucks. Any other cabin rivalries I should know of?"

"Well, Ares isn't that fond of me…"

"Oh, that's fantastic. Oh well, we'll think of something. Anyway, are you planning on getting out of bed at all today?"

"Would you shut up? If you and Annabeth would kindly leave, I'll be able to get up and get dressed."

"Why do we have to leave?" I threw my pillow at him. "Fine, fine, I'm leaving. Prude…"

After making _very_ sure that my shirt was on all the way, I went out and met them. From then on, the day went pretty normally. I devoted most of my free time to practicing archery, which, even after years of practice, I was still awful at. I needed all the practice I could get if I wanted to have a shot in Hades in the Olympics. I prayed to Apollo and Artemis for some sort of help but wasn't expecting much. If Apollo was inclined to help anyone, it would be his own children, and Artemis wasn't exactly fond of men. _Although right now I'm not technically a man. _I sighed. _Probably doesn't matter to her either way…_

"Percy, Percy! Guess what!" Annabeth was running towards the archery field. She skidded to a halt right in front of me.

I whisper yelled at her. "Annabeth! Are you _insane_? You could've blown my cover!"

"Sorry, sorry. But you'll never guess what happened! Go on! Guess, I dare you!"

I was stumped. What could make Annabeth this excited? "I don't know. You got an A quadruple plus on a test?"

"No! Well, yes, but that's beside the point. Thalia and the Huntresses are here! Artemis let them come to participate in the Camp Olympics!" Huh. Well maybe Artemis did have some pity for me. "Well, what are you waiting for? Go say hi to her!"

I left my bow with Annabeth and headed for the cabins. I grinned to myself, thinking about all the extra practice I could get in with Thalia's help. This was _sure_ to give me a chance in the Olympics! I sped up when I saw the crowd around the fire pit. It took me a minute to pick Thalia out from the crowd. When I finally did pick her out, I decided to surprise her. I snuck up behind her and gave her a slight shove while shouting 'boo'. She seemed shocked for like, two seconds, before she spun around and pinned me to the ground. "Um, Thal, could you get off? It's great to see you and all, but you're making me kinda nervous, what with the knife to my throat. So could you get off now? Please?"

Thalia narrowed her eyes at me. "Who are you?" she hissed.

Oh. "Okay, um, try to listen to me. I'm one of your close friends. Trust me. If you let me up and follow me to my cabin, I'll explain."

* * * * *

"… And that's what happened. Any questions? Comments? Concerns?"

I braced myself for the disbelief, the outrage. Instead, I saw a look of comprehension on her face. "Um, no questions? No outraged disbelief? No knife to the throat telling me to give up Percy?"

"No, no, and definitely not. I believe you."

"Okay, I've had to give this speech for Zeus knows how many times now, but you're the only person to outright believe me. So one question: _Why_ do you believe me?"

"Lady Artemis told me before we left that some of my friends might have changed in unexpected ways. At first I thought she was just giving me the 'you don't grow up, but they do' speech, but now I understand what she meant. Oh Percy, this is fantastic!"

That threw me for a loop. "I'm sorry, but I can't how this is fantastic. Care to explain?"

"Of course it's fantastic! Don't you see? Now you can join the Hunt with me!"


	5. Fights and stories of the past

**A.N. Am I the only one excited for the movie? No? Okay. Enjoy the new chappie.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.**

"J-join the Hunt?!? You're kidding. Right?" I felt faint. She wanted _me_ to join the Hunt? Why, _why _did I have to get this stupid curse in the first place?

"No, Percy, think about it. Joining the Hunt would mean we could spend so much more time together! We'd actually _be_ best friends forever! It'd be perfect!"

"Um, you might have forgotten this, but whenever we spent _any_ extended amount of time together, we ended up at each others throats. Sometimes literally."

"Oh, that's right…" Thalia seemed deflated for a second, but perked right back up. "But I'm sure an eternity together can cure that!"

"Or drive us stark raving nuts and have us wind up in the loony bin. I'm sorry, Thal, I know you're excited about this, but I'm just not sure. At least give me some time to think about it."

"Why are you so against this idea? Are you so opposed to spending time with me?"

"Why do you think it's you? You don't _possibly_ think it could be because I'm supposed to be a boy who was stuck with this body because of some stupid ancient curse? And now I'm being asked to join an immortal all female group? Effectively ensuring that I would be a girl forever?" I stood up, fuming. "No of _course_ not! It's obviously because I don't like you!

"So you're admitting it?"

"Are you so dense that that was the _one_ thing you picked up from that?!"

"Now you're calling me stupid, Seaweed Brain?"

"Maybe I am, Pinecone Face!"

"Are you looking for a fight?"

I was about to retort when I had an epiffiny epiphuny a sudden realization. "Thal, Thal, calm down. Stop yelling. Don't you see? This is exactly what I was talking about. We've been with each other for less than two hours and we're already arguing."

Thalia sighed. "Maybe you're right. But I still think that it'd be a good idea for you to join. What will it take to convince you?"

I thought for a moment. "I'll tell you what. If we can avoid getting into any arguments, petty squabbles aside, until the end of the Camp Olympics, then I will consider forfeiting my manhood for eternity and joining the Hunt."

"I guess that seems fair. So, now that that has been established, what do want to do now? 'Cuz we've got a couple of hours to kill until dinner time."

"Um, I was kinda hoping that you could help me with my archery."

"Oh? I'm wondering why you suddenly show an interest in archery," she said, the look on her face telling me she knew all too well why I wanted her help. "Care to explain?"

I mumbled something unintelligible. "Speak up, I can't hear you." I groaned.

"I said because I need to improve for the Olympics. You happy?"

"Immensely. Now answer me this one question: why would I willingly help the opponent better herself–" I frowned at her choice of pronoun "–before the competition?"

"Um, because we're friends? Because it'd be good for your karma? Because you have a kind and generous heart?" each answer I provided sounded weaker than the last, and so far, Thalia looked unimpressed. "C'mon Thalia, _please_? Besides, I'm fairly certain that you owe me a favor for something or other."

She considered this for a few moments. "… fine. But now _you_ owe _me_ a favor."

"Wait, how does that work out? If you are repaying a favor that you owe, shouldn't we break even?"  
"No, because this is worth at _least_ two favors. Duh."

"Fine, whatever. Lets just get to the field already."

"Not right now! I need to plan out exactly how I'm going to tort – er, train you. Besides, I just realized that I haven't said hello to Annabeth yet. Let's go!"

After searching the entire camp, we found Annabeth teaching Alex Greek. Realizing they hadn't officially met, we decided to introduce them. "Thalia, this is Alex. Alex, Thalia." The two moved forward to shake hands.

"So you're the infamous Alex."

"Um, I'm infamous?"

"Yup. I heard all about how you were trying to seduce my friend here." He and I nearly choked on our own saliva. "Relax, you two. I was only kidding. Sheesh. Anyway, it's nice to meetcha, Alex."

"Likewise. Um I gotta ask: are you like the other Hunters?"

"Depends on what you mean by 'like them'."

"I mean, like, treating boys like they're the plague and stuff."

"Ha-ha. No, I'm okay with boys. Just not allowed to date and stuff."

"So you're not going to, like, stab me when I turn around?"

"No, you're safe. Besides any friend of Annabeth and, um, Andromeda is a friend of mine."

After that, an awkward silence permeated the air. Luckily, Chiron called for dinner only moments later. Dinner passed without incident. However, several glares were directed towards the Hunters and several of the owners of the glares were nursing minor wounds. After dinner, the four of us went to the beach and just… hung out. Alex and Thalia were taking turns quizzing each other.

"So who's your godly parent?"

"Zeus."

"No way."

"It's true."

Alex whistled in awe. "Daughter of Zeus and Lieutenant of Artemis. That's an impressive reputation."

"I guess so. But now it's your turn. Do you have any guesses on who your godly parent is?"

"None. I'm an orphan, so I don't even know if it's a god or goddess."

"Oh. I'm sorry for bringing it up."

"It's okay. You had no way of knowing."

You're an orphan, Alex?" I was shocked.

"Yeah. I thought I told you two already?" Annabeth and I shook our heads. "Oh, well, yeah, I am. Never even knew my parent."

"I'm _so_ sorry," Annabeth said sympathetically. "If it makes you feel any better, my dad wasn't that great."

"Yeah, neither was my mom," Thalia chipped in. "That's why Annabeth and I ran away."

"What about you Andromeda? What's your mom like?"

"Oh my mom's pretty nice. I like her."  
"Like her? You went on a quest to the Underworld to save her! When you didn't have any training, either!"

Alex blinked at me. "You actually went to the Underworld to save your mom?"

I rubbed the back of my head nervously. "Um, y-yeah. My uncle took her hostage."

"By uncle, you mean –"

"Hades."

"Wow. Now you've _gotta_ tell me this story."

"Some other time. It's too long to bother right now. Besides, it's almost curfew."

Almost as if it was rehearsed, curfew was called. The four of us bade each other good night and headed towards our individual cabins. Yawning, I climbed into bed. Sleep couldn't come too soon.

What I wasn't expecting was to wake up with a sword at my throat.

**  
A.N. Ooh, cliffy. What's gonna happen now? It may be a while until I upload a new chapter because I'm planning on editing and redoing the first couple of chapters. By the way, if you read a lot of Percy Jackson fanfiction, please check out the help wanted section on my profile. 'Till next time. Bye!**


	6. Sleep deprivation

**A.N. SO sorry for the long wait between new chapters. Forgive me?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson**

I was on instant alert, all traces of drowsiness fading in an instant. I made a grab for Riptide, but forgot that my pajamas had no pockets. 'Curse these soft, cottony garments!'

A male voice emerged from the darkness. "Who are you and what have you done with Percy? Why are you in his cabin?"

"I don't know who you are, but I would appreciate it if you would kindly leave," I replied coldly.

"Shut up!" the voice hissed angrily as the blade was pressed closer to my throat. I could now feel a slight trickle of blood running down my neck. "I'll ask you again: Where. Is. Percy?"

"So you come into my cabin at – what time is it?" I glanced at my clock. "At two o'clock in the morning, hold a sword at my throat, and expect me to just go along with it? Well, I'm sorry if I don't feel the need to tell you anything."

"_Your_ cabin?" the voice asked incredulously. "This cabin belongs to Percy! Now I demand you tell me where my cousin is!

Wait a minute. Cousin?

I squinted into the darkness. "Nico?!?"

"How do you know my name?"

"Oh man, this is all just one big misunderstanding! Dude, don't scare me like that. I'll tell you what: drop the sword and I'll explain everything. I'll tell you what happened."

He retrieved the sword from my neck, but kept a hand on it at all times. Deciding it would be better if we could actually see each other, I got up and turned on the lights. Then I got a couple of Cokes from my secret stash; I had a feeling this was going to take awhile.

* * * * *

Six cans of Coke later (three each), and I'd finished retelling what had happened to me for what had to be the umpteenth time in the past couple of days. "So… do you believe me?" I asked timidly.

"Well… I suppose stranger things have happened." Like what? "Plus there's the fact that Annabeth hasn't kicked you out, so I guess your story has at least a _shred_ of credibility. But I'll have to check your story with Annabeth's in the morning."

"But you aren't going to cut my throat before morning?"

"Nah. But, hey, speaking of morning, do you think I could bunk with you tonight?" I raised my eyebrow at him and gave him a second. Realization dawned on his face and he became flustered. "I mean, n-not _with_ you, of course, but y'know, in the same cabin as you? I just don't want to run the risk of meeting the Harpies tonight."

I laughed. "Sure thing man. You can have one of the empty bunks over there."

Still blushing, he went over, put his pack next to the bed, and proceeded to fall on the bed. He was out in a matter of seconds. I, however, was still jacked up on three cans of Coke. I sat there for a while, glancing about the cabin and my gaze fell on him. 'He looks so peaceful, and less 'hating-the-world' right now.' I loved my cousin, but he could sure pull off the Goth look. 'He actually looks kind of… cute."

Oh my gods. Now it was my turn to act flustered. 'I totally meant that in an older si-_bling_ sort of way,' I rationalized it to myself. 'He's like my little brother. You know what? Forget that I even said anything.' I punched my pillow into a more comfortable position and fell asleep, trying to forget what just happened.

* * * * *

Morning arrived sooner than I would have liked, and judging from the look on his face, Nico felt the same. 'His own dang fault. Honestly, what was he thinking coming into my cabin at two o'clock in the freakin' morning? What was he gonna do if he did find Percy?' I think it's pretty obvious that I wasn't in the best of moods.

We had both been woken up by the sound of knocking on the cabin door. I figured it would be best if I answered, rather than have whoever it was decapitated by a disgruntled son of Hades (although a disgruntled child of Poseidon isn't much better). "Whoever this is, it better be important," I grumbled.

I'll give you three guesses who it was. "Morning sleeping beau- uh, never mind."

"Shut up, Alex."

"Mind if I come in? Thanks."

"Morning Annabeth."

"Morning Andromeda." Annabeth looked pretty disgruntled herself, so I guessed that she wasn't awake of her own volition.

I turned into my cabin… and ran straight into Alex. "Who is _that_?" he asked, pointing towards Nico. He was just sitting up.

"Don't you know it's rude to point, kid?"

"Who you calling 'kid', punk?"

"You wanna start something?"

I could see where this was going. "Guys! Seriously? It's six-thirty in the morning! Alex, this is Nico. Nico, Alex. He's the one I told you about last night."

"He stayed with you last night?"

"Well, technically it was this morning, but unless the sun is risen or rising, its night. To me at least."

"So how do you two know each other?"

"It's complicated. I -"

"Sorry to interrupt, but are you two planning on actually going into the cabin? 'Cause it's a little boring just standing out here."

"Oh, sorry Annabeth. Come on in."

"Oh hey, Nico." Annabeth did a double take. "Wait, when did you get here?"

"This morning. At about two o'clock."

"He felt the need to wake me up, too. And then had the courtesy too fall asleep after getting me hyped up on Coke."

"You have Coke?"

"_Had_ Coke. I'm gonna need to restock it after the arrival of our dear little Nico here."

"Aw, shut it. You offered."

"My mistake."

Alex interrupted. "So how do you three know each other?" He seemed impatient. I dunno why.

"The same way we know you, actually."

"I thought you said it was complicated?"

"Well, not so much how we met, as our relationship since then."

"Your 'relationship'?"

"Shut up. You know what I mean."

"I'm just sayin'. You two stayed up late talking and then he stayed over. It can be interpreted in not-so-innocent ways."

"What did you come here for?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

"We need a reason to visit? I'm hurt, Andromeda."

"If you wanna hang out, then leave so I can get dressed."

The three of them started to head out the door. ""Hold on Nico. I need a quick word with you."

"So he's allowed to stay, but I'm not? So unfair."

"Don't worry, he's not gonna see anything you aren't."

"So I get to stay?"

"No, he gets to leave. **After** I talk with him."

Grumbling he went out with Annabeth. Nico turned to me. "So, what do you need?"

"Just remember that he still thinks that I'm a _natural _girl. So call me 'Andromeda' in front of him."

"I don't see why you care so much."

"Nico, please just do it."

"Fine, fine. Is that all?"

"Yes. Now get out."

After getting dressed in the standard camp half-blood t-shirt and a pair of plain blue jeans, I met the Alex outside. "Where did Nico and Annabeth go?"

"That Nico kid said he needed to talk to Annabeth. Something top-secret I'm sure." I couldn't help but notice the sarcasm in his voice.

"Would it kill you to not act like a total meathead the first time you see him? 'Cause he could totally whoop your butt."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"Sorry, but it's true, you being the rookie you are. Heck, he could probably just summon up a couple of skeletons and have _them_ whoop your butt."

"Skeletons?" he asked nervously.

"Oh yeah. I forgot to mention that he's a son of Hades."

"So he can summon zombies. That's just creepy," he said with a shudder.

"What, are you scared of zombies?"

"I'm sorry, but dead people should stay dead."

At this point, Nico and Annabeth joined us, the latter instantly contributing to the conversation. "So now that you've woken the three of us up, what do you wanna do now?"

"I dunno. I thought you two would be able to come up with something."

I sighed. "So your plan was just to wake us up with no real reason to do so?"

He smiled cheerfully. Annoyingly so. "Uh-huh."

"Perfect." I heard Nico mutter 'Idiot' under his breath.

"Oh! Oh! I've got an idea! Why don't we go get Thalia?"

Annabeth and I paled. Sleep-deprived children of Hades, Poseidon, and Athena are nothing compared to sleep-deprived children of Zeus. Especially when they are surrounded by sleep-deprived Hunters of Artemis. (Wow, sleep-deprivation is a pretty big problem for half-bloods. I should bring that up with Chiron.) "Not if we want to live. Especially you two," Annabeth said, pointing to Nico and Alex.

"I get why she'd want to kill this kid-"

"Hey!" Nico said indignantly.

"-But why me? I thought we really hit it off yesterday!"

"First off, she knows Nico too. Second, do you really want to find out exactly how far the Hunters are willing to take their vow?"

"Point taken. But that was my last idea."

"It was your _only_ idea," Annabeth pointed out.

"Well, if the moron is out of ideas, I'm gonna go catch up on some much needed sleep," Nico started to head back into my cabin. Why he decided to go back into my cabin when the Harpies were gone, I have no idea. But Annabeth stopped him before he got away.

"Wait, Nico. Do you want to come train with us for the Camp Olympics? I'm sure you'll be able to participate."

Nico sighed. "That's actually why Father wanted me to come to the camp."

"Great! Then you can team up with me!"

"I thought I was teaming up with you?"

"Well we're gonna need more than just the two of us. And there wasn't a limit on the number of cabins that could team up."

"But what if he sucks?"

"Excuse me? If anyone is gonna suck, it's gonna be you, not me. I've got years of experience over you, kid. Which is why I'm wondering why you're even gonna be on the same team as me and Pe-Andromeda."

"Ease up, Nico. He's got a couple of weeks to train, and should come out pretty decent. You, me, and whoever else joins our team can pick up any slack."

"Fine. But I'm gonna train him to make sure he's up to snuff."

"What? No way! If anyone's going to train me, It's gonna be-"

"It's gonna be Nico," I cut in. "I'm gonna be too busy getting Thalia to train me in archery."

"So why can't it be Annabeth?"

"'Cause she's gonna be training with her siblings."

"So I'm stuck with Emo over here?"

"Pretty much."

"Welcome to the Boot Camp from Hades, punk." I was impressed: Nico had a miasma of ghosts surrounding him for added dramatic effect. "Oh, and I'm _not_ emo."

"He's gonna kill me, isn't he?"

Deciding not to answer that I pushed him towards Nico. "Have fun you two!"

Nico dragged a weeping Alex towards the swords arena.

"He hasn't got a prayer," Annabeth said seriously. I secretly agreed.

**A.N. Again, I'm so sorry for the wait between new chapters. But in-between the updates, I redid the prologue and chapter one, so check those out if you haven't already. **

_**READ THIS NEXT PART!!!**_

**I feel as if this story has gotten a little slow, so should I time skip to the Olympics or introduce a prophecy/quest? Tell me your opinion in a review (hopefully more than one person has an opinion this time).**


End file.
